So, Yahoo/AP was doing a story about what a bleak Christmas it was going to be for Hollywood. Since this started, I think, in a pretty fair manner, I read it.
Liked some, annoyed by others, had my own very unscientific calculations I wanted to toss out based on what they were tossing about as fact. Why not? Everybody's doing it!
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By SANDY COHEN, AP Entertainment Writer Sat Dec 22, 12:39 PM ET LOS ANGELES - Nearly two months without paychecks. Scores of shuttered shows. Thousands out of work. The Hollywood writers strike suggests a bleak Christmas for many in Tinsel Town.
But just like a movie script, this story has a twist: many striking writers remain upbeat despite the financial and emotional strains the walkout has brought to the season."
Hey, now that's a pleasant surprise. Most of these articles go into the strike talking about how the writers strike is screwing over everybody and NOT the writers. At least this one is taking pains to point out, hey, the writers are feeling financial and emotional strains as well.
And it's talking about them being upbeat. Usually it's how, now that the strike is nearly 50 days old, the writers are starting to fold. So, two paragraphs in... maybe this will be a little even handed!
Since members of the Writers Guild of America went on strike job Nov. 5, more than $350 million in wages have been lost, said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Committee.
Ouch, there's a pretty big number with no real breakdown on what that means. Writers wages? Producer wages? Studio bonuses? A little help here. That's a mighty big number. Eeep. This article might be teetering.
Writers, though, are accustomed to sporadic employment and saving their pennies, and they're inspired by the feeling that they're helping their profession and the labor movement at large.
Yay! Something that doesn't portray writers as effete hat wearing idiots! We actually DO understand that our jobs are transient! And we do believe that this strike is about more than whether or not have to choose between Bentleys and Lamborghinis! I like you Sandy Cohen, AP writer.
"We're swept up by the romantic notion of being on strike and doing the right thing," said Luvh Rakhe, a writer and strike captain for the ABC show "Cavemen." "By strengthening the union movement in Hollywood, everyone who's in a union benefits."
Ugh. "Cavemen." Still, "Everone in a union benefits." This is true. After all, for every one cent the writers guild manages to secure, every other guild gets their raises as well, including IATSE (who gets 4.5 cents, really.) So, hey! Maybe IATSE'll figure out that this is everybody's fight!
But not everyone sees it that way.
Oh, balls.
The strike against the studios has also forced nearly 40,000 "below-the-line" workers — including electricians, carpenters, welders and prop masters — out of work, according to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. Unlike the writers, who are buoyed by feelings of righteousness and will presumably benefit from the strike's outcome, these workers are simply jobless at what should be a festive time of year.
Um... the writers are jobless as well. And the writers are jobless because they're fighting for something they believe in. Just because they're on strike, doesn't mean they have jobs. By the very definition of strike, they don't.
The strike has been "devastating" for IATSE members, said spokeswoman Katherine Orloff.
"They've not only lost their paychecks, they're losing hours that contribute to eligibility for health insurance and pension coverage," she said. "Everybody wants to go back to work, whether they support the strike, don't support the strike, are angry at producers or are angry at writers."
Thank you, Katherine Orloff. Yes, everybody wants to go back to work. While we're pointing out the obvious, we all need air, puppies are adorable, and cancer is bad. But it sure would be nice if IATSE could muster even the tiniest piece of support for the WGA by digging at the AMPTP for their part in this.
But as we've seen before, nobody in IATSE management seems to be wired for that. It's too much of a pissing match now.
Christmas presents are hardly a concern when "people are going to start losing their homes and their businesses," she said. "Gifts are almost frivolous ideas at this point. This is about survival."
So the WGA is responsible for the sub-prime mortgage crisis? Who knew?Most writers and below-the-line workers earn middle-class incomes. The average writers-guild member's salary is $62,000 a year, according to the WGA. IATSE salaries are similar. Strike or no, employment is inconsistent for both groups, with nearly half of writers-guild members and 10 to 15 percent of IATSE members without work during the year.
Anybody else catch that?
Writers make what IATSE people make, but 35% MORE WGA people are out of work than guild members. Especially when we start, WE MAKE THE SAME MONEY. WE HAVE THE SAME UNPREDICTABLE LIVES. WE'RE THE SAME F***ING PEOPLE TRYING TO MAKE DO HERE.
"As a writer, you have to develop the instinct of squirreling money away," Rakhe said. "You're just used to a lot of uncertainty in the first place."
The WGA prepared its members for the possibility of a strike a year in advance, so many writers saved money and started buying Christmas presents early.
And what did our guys do in IATSE? Saved up venom. You would think with ten times the members, maybe they could have armed their weapons and took a defensive crouch.
"This is the worst holiday in this town that I've ever experienced," said Jim Brooks, longtime writer and producer of "The Simpsons." "This is not dancing-in-the-street time. This is shuffling in a line, carrying a sign time."
Studios, though, are still celebrating, with Disney, Universal and Paramount throwing big holiday bashes like they do each year.
Of which I went to one of those parties. It was nice. I had a lovely slice of Turkey and a whiskey sour. And then I went home.
Those same studios, said "Law & Order" scribe Joe Reinkemeyer, are the "Grinch that stole Christmas from all of Hollywood."
However, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, blames the writers.
"Because they walked off the job, tens of thousands of other people who had no stake in this dispute are losing hundreds of millions of dollars," said spokesman Jesse Hiestand. "Many of those other workers will never have the kind of six-figure incomes enjoyed by WGA writers and it is a real shame that the holiday season is being dimmed by the writers' decision to go on strike."
Note here that when the studios talk about it, the writers are now making six figures and the IATSE folk will never see that kind of money. That's gotta be encouraging for IATSE members to know they have a ceiling that they'll never break out of and, chances are, their union probably won't strike over.
It's still horsecrap. Anybody want to toss out some numners as to what Editors make? Animation writers? Animation people? All sorts of other IATSE jobs? Using their minimum agreements to see how it goes? Let me help here.
Six figures is about 1923.00 per week. However, when I was struggling, I didn't take my vacation week. So I made 54 weeks of checks over 52 weeks. Now, that weekly goes to 1851.00.
My choice, but if we're in a world where we're tightening belts, that's a good way to do it. Anybody want to fill in the blanks with some real numbers on residuals?
Not minimums, but what working IATSE people are paid on a weekly basis. For the sake of our discussions: Board artists, color stylists, art directors, Prop designers, etc.
How close are WGA and IATSE when we're in the world of minimums?
The difference is, I think, the WGA low number may very well be the IATSE high number when it comes to the creative side of the entertainment industry.
But it's also the difference between working on an idea and creating it. The person who created it - be it Caveman, Law and Order or Judging Amy - will ALWAYS get more because they're at the top of that pyramid, with writers pretty close behind. So to me, this article says a few things:
* Writers and IATSE members aren't as far apart as you'd think, especially fiscally. Remember, these agreements are about minimums, not maximums... so we're all starting at the same place.
* Writers and IATSE members start to take different roads when there's opportunity to be exploited. Writers created starts them reaching for higher rungs on a ladder, and those rungs get pay increases on an exponential level, because those pay increased are negotiated by agents, not someone willing to say "2% more? Sure, that's good this year for everyone."
* Writers and IATSE members are at the mercy of each other. If IATSE were to go on strike for something, WGA would shut down as well. The only difference is, if there were a different union that was less contentious, you would see writers support. Imagine how fast this strike would have been over if IATSE's 150,000 members started backing it.
- Marmel
Tired. But wanted to post a non-micah post. Let the clearly less explosive debate begin.
most animations studios have more than a few artists whom are independent creators outside of their studio jobs and can write just as well, if not better than the jaded, tunnel visioned writers from the WGA.
the majority of WGA writers working in animation are hacks. after years of hearing most of them freely admit that they would love to be writing for films or other projects over animation, excuse me if i'm not ready to heap respect upon them. as a visual artist and creator i've had to continually correct edit these jughead's "scripts".
one of the few places where John K. is absolutely correct in his convictions is his opinions on animation 'writers'. with few exceptions, they simply don't undertsand the artform.